Escape From New York
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£5
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef
Year: 1980
Duration: 69 mins
Certificate: 15
"★★★★★ – proudly wears its affection for crusty Sergio Leone archetypes and countdown-clock suspense sequences" – Time Out
"★★★★ – entertainment of the highest order" – Empire
★★★★ – Guardian
Now restored in 4K, Carpenter’s grungy sci-fi actioner is set in a dystopian 1997, where Manhattan island has been walled off to create a huge maximum security prison.
When Air Force One is hijacked and the President’s escape pod lands in Manhattan, enter Snake Pliskin - a former special forces soldier turned convicted bank robber who is tasked with rescuing the Leader of the Free World in return for a pardon.
Injected with micro-explosives timed to go off after 22 hours if he doesn’t return with the President, Snake enters the hell of old New York.